James Lee Byars (b. 1932 in Detroit; d. 1997 in Cairo) began his intensive investigation of Zen-Buddhism in 1957. He incorporated his findings into his artistic work, which represents a symbiosis of Conceptual Art, Minimalism and Fluxus. Early on Byars attempted visual representations of existential concepts with the intention of enabling the viewer to experience silence and emptiness. Byars reduced his sculptural œuvre to forms with an obvious symbolism (cone, circle, sickle, cuboid) which he invested with a mystical dimension by painting them in red, gold or black. Perfection, beauty and immateriality are among the central concepts of this "magician of silence".